WHEN THINGS DON’T GO WELL

The Test of Sincerity

When things are on an even keel or on a comfortable and predictable plateau, it is not difficult to be on the path of obedience. However, once in a while, Allah shakes up your life to test your sincerity to Him. Those in a state of obedience to Allah will accept that what Allah has ordained is the best for them, and those whose sincerity is shaky, will struggle to cope with the tests.

Trials in life are inevitable, and as believers, we must be prepared for our faith to be tested. These can be in the form of calamities or with the loss of things which are precious and beloved to us. Surah Al Baqarah at 2:155 makes specific mention of things that we will be tested with: “fear and hunger and a loss of wealth and lives and fruits [of your labour].”

Hence, the Qur’an pinpoints our most basic instincts and emotions which lie at our primal core: fear, which denotes the absence of security; hunger, which denotes the inability to satisfy our most basic needs for physical survival; and the loss of our general material needs, including the people around us.

The Path of the Believer

What should we do when things do not go that well?

The solution is simple, for Verse 2:155 of Surat Al Baqarah concludes “… but give good tidings to the patient.”

Hence, the Qur’an has already told us the attitude to adopt when hardship falls upon us. With patience, we have demonstrated that our love of and trust in Allah outstrips the love of the things the loss of which we suffered.

What does this mean? An obedient person accepts that nothing, absolutely nothing, happens without the will of Allah. When there is any change in circumstance or any event that disrupts the equilibrium, they do not become unbalanced or get upset about the changes, but rather, they accept the changes with patience and trust in Allah.

This does not mean that believers are defeatists or losers in life. It simply means they recognize that when certain uncontrollable events happen, the best course of action is to accept such changes calmly. Despite the external hardships, their inner tranquility and emotional and psychological ability to deal with events remain intact.

If our faith in Allah is weak, it seems that this state of mind requires a superhuman effort. However this is not the case at all. It is simply a matter of letting go, and submitting our will to Allah’s Will. We give priority to Allah’s plans instead of our personal ones. It requires a simple shift of control – to transfer the trust and reliance that we have in ourselves, abilities and possessions; our dependence on our money and status; our reliance on the people around us – to trust, dependence and reliance in Allah alone.

Faith and love in Allah is such a beautiful thing. With the passing of every test comes rewards, both tangible and intangible, in this world and in the hereafter. All tests by Allah elevate us to a higher level in His eyes, but only if we pass them.

Hence, we can either get upset, question, analyse, refuse to accept undesirable events … we can weep bitter tears, complain, shake our fists in anger - but all these misguided emotions, desires and confusions will not help us in any constructive way.

On the other hand, we can submit to the will of Allah, because we know that there is a higher power which has caused these events to occur. Allah is the best Planner, and we are optimistic that whatever has happened, was the best for us.

If we adopt this conviction, we are effectively entrusting the burden of our fate to Him. We will have confidence that the same God who has taken care of us all our lives, will take care of us through our difficult moments. If we pass the test and exercise patience and gratitude in adversity, He will eventually reward us with something even better to compensate our obedience and trust in Him.

Indeed, in time the believer will come to understand how wonderful a gift Allah has bestowed upon us by not only providing us with this facility, but also in rewarding us for doing so.

Asaalam o Alaikum brother I have been dealing wd medical isues had checked up and found all my test clear but still troubling I started praying and almost everyday I dua to Allah not for me only for every one but still I feel I am not satisfy today I read the above article and I felt like I am going on a wrong path by not being trustworthy towards Allah I feel guilty I trust Allah more then any thing but sometimes my emotions brake and start crying like a baby I am far away from my family I love them I trust Allah but why my heart s not believing in that my mind has made very depressed what should I do please help me out..............Jazak Allah khair

Asm. Life is a journey, and throughout all this, we are continuously being tested, both with things which we like and things which we dislike. The only way to pass the test is to thank Allah for both situations, and to trust that whatever Allah has chosen for us is the best. Trusting Allah is a beautiful feeling, but it is also coupled with a journey of iman. In this journey, we also have to clear our doubts, and to strengthen our belief. Don't despair, and don't feel depressed. This journey is ongoing, life is ongoing. The more you connect with Allah, the more you will develop the trust. Whenever you feel depressed, do some zikr, say Alhamdulillah. Seek Allah, through understanding the Qur'an, reading inspirational books on Islam such as Don't Be Sad, or simply by going through the abundance of online materials readily available, including this website. Just remember, the One who has taken care of your needs all your life, do you think He will abandon you if you actively seek Him, or do you think He will ignore you and stop taking care of you now? :) Have faith.

Badly needed this article. My eyes were watery coz it helped clear a few things in mind. I was going through a tough time & was at a point of going to depression. I have full faith in Allah SWT & after reading this, I know I have to hold His string even thighter to come out of all of my problems. Inshallah ta'ala He will guide me & many others to the right path ...... Ameen.

Wsm, I am happy that this article has impacted you positively. Just remember, whenever Allah tests you, it is not to break you, but it is to make you stronger. It is not because He hates you, it is because He loves you. And the way to pass the test, as you said, is to hold on even tighter, and insha Allah, when you pass the test, He will change your tough conditions to good ones. May He make it easy for you.

Filtered HTML

Allows breaking the content into pages by manually inserting <!--pagebreak--> placeholder or automatic page break by character or word limit, it depends on your settings below. Note: this will work only for CCK fields except for comment entity CCK fields.

Gmap

Insert Google Map macro.

CAPTCHA

This question is for testing whether or not you are a human visitor and to prevent automated spam submissions.